Gratitude as Expressed by an “Ex-Parolee”

Probation Reflections

Last November, I stood in front of a judge with some paperwork in hand. This was the proof I needed to show the judge that I had paid my due to society and needed to be relieved of my six-month probation. In less than two minutes, I was granted just that — a reprieve. Or was it really a reprieve? I look back at the incident that brought me to this very point in my life — an about-to-be-ex-parolee :-D.

It was the last week in April and I was on my way back home just before midnight, after a long, protracted flight from Chicago. I had retrieved my car from the airport parking lot and was making my home slowly. About two miles from my house, I felt a conviction in my spirit to not take the route I was used to but I disobeyed. On getting to an intersection, I did not notice that the traffic light had been replaced by those permanent red flashing lights due to the ongoing construction. I relied on my programmed reptilian pre-frontal cortex and ran the flashing red light. It did not even occur to me what I had done until the flashing red and blue light behind me woke me from my reverie. I was stopped by a cop.